Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some questio

[OneLuv1979]

Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart since it now has no oil pressure.
Have some questions im hoping you guys can help....

#1 I am looking around for a high performace head gasket set for a pontiac 400 but can only find normal gaskets (felpro)
I know Fel-Pro offers them for Chevy 400's but not Pontiac? What are you guys using.. I do plan on spraying the motor eventually ....

#2 The heads on it are 6x heads 2.11 1.77 ... They were pretty hot and i was told i should have them checked for cracks at a machine shop .... What do you guys think , it went up to 230-240 but was shut down immediatly ...
If they are cracked what heads would you suggest? I do not have money to go with elderbrock alum at this time but possibly next year..

3) It has a Performer RPM intake , with a eldebrock 750cfm , i want to change it to a Holley 750cfm Vac Secondaries...
Will i need a adapter and where can i find one?

4) Since there is no oil pressure i surely want to replace the oil pump , curious to know what a quality pump is for 400+ HP?

I truly would appreciate any help ...

 

[84clonewars]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

I dont think I would consider 230-240 degs as overheating man border line yes but not full blown overheating. Its more than likely fine just go with a 165 thermostat your temp should be about 210 normally if all is working properly. Just my 2cents

 

[OneLuv1979]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

I dont know when i pulled over it was steaming and smoking all over .... Then no oil pressure and once its warm the valvles were ticking like hell .... Plus i could not keep it running ... I woudl adjust the carb and get it to idle nice then the second i would put it in drive it would die ... Im lost myself ..

 

[84clonewars]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

That really blows maybe the gauge was faulty and it got a lot hotter than it was showing, I have no experience with the cheif but my sbc got up to 250 a few times with no issues(stop n go chicago summer traffic), the old tpi like to run at abt 225 from the factory. My sbo is at abt 210 normally. Good luck

 

[OneLuv1979]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

 

[454cutlass]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

any cross contamination between the oil and coolent. the overheating is bad but not to bad the no oil pressure will kill a car real fast. melted all the bearing on my 454 when oil pressure went away. test sensor to make sure they are all properly working. it would be a good idea to have a machine shop look at the heads to make sure there not warped

as for gaskets look for mls gaskets made by fel pro

if you are going to spray there are keep it small .if you want to spray a lot or have a big shot there are multable upgrades you must do.

 

[Ringers]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

First step in the diagnostics is, check your oil. Is it milked up?. Pull your oil filter, cut it apart and look at what's inside. Second, your antifreeze. Is it contamnated with oil? Pressurize your cooling system. Listen for leaks. Do a compression check. If you have a Blown Head gasket, generally two adjacent cylinder will have low compression. Look at your spark plugs. In the early stages, your cylinders with issues will have very clean plugs, from the water turning to steam and steam cleaning the plugs. Do you have a bore scope? Rent one if you have to. Look around. Lastly, if you DID lose oil pressure, how long did you run it and what brand of crankshaft are you running? We run Callies and we run Friction Coated Clevites.
Out on the river doing testing, darin lost the oil pump pick up and lost oil pressure at 6200 RPM. He was quick to shut down and after I pulled the engine, what I saw made me sick.

We torture our engines. The Callies cranks are super hard and it cleaned up with just some crocus cloth. We got lucky. Slipped in a new set of bearings and a replacement oil pump with a welded pick up. We run Cometic MLS gaskets, custom built,any thickness you want. Around $130 each, but they work. One time use though. We though we could get away with a reuse. Ya, that didn't work out so well...
Cheers- Matt

 

[Intragration]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

I dont think I would consider 230-240 degs as overheating man border line yes but not full blown overheating. Its more than likely fine just go with a 165 thermostat your temp should be about 210 normally if all is working properly. Just my 2cents

I agree that 240 isn't crazy, although it's too hot. The thermostat is open for discussion. There is something to be said about letting the motor heat up some. Also, a lower thermostat rating doesn't necessarily mean the engine is going to run cooler, the thermostat is going to cycle less (i.e. open and close less frequently), staying open longer and allowing coolant to spend less time in the radiator being cooled. I run a 195 thermostat and also stay around 210 usually.

 

[OneLuv1979]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

OIl is not milky ..... No Oil in radiator ....
When im on the gas oil pressure would be around 18 and at idle it dropped to 0 and i had to drive about 3-4 miles ...

I am ripping the motor out tomorrow , just have the bell housing & torque converter bolts to loosen ,drop the starter and the motor will be coming out .... My father was telling me he has had the pickup fall off and he welds them now , so i will be buying a pump and making sure the pickup is welded ... Any suggestion on a good quality oil pump?

I didnt want to rip the motor but i want to make sure its legit...I probably should have pulled the oil pan and take a look at the oil pump...

I will get the motor apart and check the crankshaft and bearings....

I took it to the Dragstrip and the motor was faling on its face at 4000rpms , i could not get it to rev over that ... On the interstate on the way home from the track i overheated it ... I know the car sat alot im wondering if the valve spirngs are shot ..

 

[OneLuv1979]

Re: Overheated my 406 and im ripping it apart. Have some que

I will surely rip the heads off and have a machine shop inspect them .....

I have a feeling i will be replacing the bearings and oil pump... BUT i would be ok with that , hoping the crank is ok ...